Everyday Ethics

Speaker Elaine Ecklund to explore relationship between science and religion

Elaine Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences and professor of sociology at Rice University, will present a pair of talks focused on the topic of science and religion on March 27 at University Park.

In the first event, Ecklund, who is the founding director of the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice, will be joined by two other religious scholars — Christopher Scheitle of West Virginia University and former Penn State faculty member Jenny Trinatapoli, now an associate professor at the University of Chicago — for a discussion titled “Bridging a perilous gap: How religion and science can work together for the common good.”

The seminar will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center and is part of the Association of Religion Data Archives at Penn State’s GlobalPlus project, a collaborative effort with the International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) designed to increase understanding of critical issues in global religion. The entire session will be offered on a live Facebook feed and archived on the websites of the Association of Religion Data Archives and the IARJ.

Also on March 27, Ecklund will present a talk titled “What religious people think about science and scientists think about religion” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Nittany Lion Inn. The talk is part of the Society for the Study of Religion Harshbarger Lecture Series and is co-sponsored by the Humanities Institute, the Rock Ethics Institute, and the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Penn State.